24 posts from February 2010

February 25, 2010

The following story contains thoughts about Syfy's "Caprica" and interviews with cast members Sasha Roiz (Sam Adama) and Alessandra Torresani (Zoe Greystone). On this post, there's also a video clip from Friday's episode and an exclusive video interview with Roiz and Torresani from their recent visit to Chicago.For other "Caprica" stories and interviews, look here.

Friday's "Caprica" (8 p.m. Central Friday, Syfy) may defy your expectations. You'd think an episode in which characters find themselves trapped inside a virtual world that resembles a videogame would be brightly colored and chaotic.

Not so. Michael Nankin, who directed several key episodes of "Battlestar Galactica" (the drama for which "Caprica" acts as a prequel), bathes the "New Cap City" game in warm sepia tones and uses sharp camera angles, retro clothes and beautifully composed visuals to recall the tense, melancholy world of film noir.

"Caprica" has had some trouble unifying the many stories it's trying to tell, but Friday's episode is more successful because it focuses on two major threads -- the virtual "V-world" of "New Cap City," and the attempts by Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) to connect with his son William (Sina Najafi), despite the fact that both are grieving the deaths of family members in very different ways.

In the March 5 episode, James Marsters ("Buffy") begins a recurring role as a terrorist leader, but John Pyper-Ferguson is also memorable in a meaty guest role as Tomas Vergis, a business titan and frenemy of technology mogul Daniel Greystone (Eric Stoltz). "Caprica" still may be a bit slower paced than I'd like, but it is also setting up some intriguing story lines and the cast and guest actors are top notch (it's especially pleasurable to see Stoltz work with Pyper-Ferguson and Paula Malcolmson, who plays Daniel's wife, Amanda).

Speaking of defying expectations: Alessandra Torresani, the exuberant actress who plays the “first Cylon” and a virtual avatar of Zoe Graystone on the Syfy drama, isn't much like her characters (though they all display flashes of her impish irreverence).

Over a recent lunch at a Chicago hotel, during which she bantered playfully with castmate Sasha Roiz (who plays Sam Adama), she exclaimed, "Bread overload!" when a waiter approached the table, and she later gleefully dug into a plate of French toast.

She also ordered a double espresso, though I've rarely met anyone who appeared to need caffeine less. But she may have wanted the energy boost for her trip to the Chicago suburbs later in the day; she couldn't wait to go see her 93-year old grandfather, one of many relatives in the Chicago area.

"Chicago is my favorite city," she exclaimed, and reminisced fondly about shooting an episode of "ER" with George Clooney in the Windy City when she was 10.

Suffice to say, Torresani (who Twitters here) is not even remotely robotic in person, despite playing at least two technology-derived characters on "Caprica." After Zoe's death in a terrorist bombing on the planet of Caprica, a virtual version of Zoe continued to exist in the "V-world," and her personality was also downloaded into an advanced robot that her industrialist father created.

Not that Zoe, a technology whiz like her father, was necessarily in favor of the limitless possibilities of cyberspace. She secretly allied herself with a group called the Soldiers of the One, a terrorist group devoted to furthering monotheism on the polytheistic Twelve Colonies.

"You can see the attraction [STO] has for the younger generation, because you can see how the [adult] generation has gone off the rails, morally," Roiz said. "There's a whole movement by the younger generation to create a new world and a new moral code."

February 24, 2010

What is it to "want answers" when it comes to "Lost"? And is saying that someone "just wants answers" a way to shrug off real concerns that some have about the final season of the show?

Even though, in my review of Tuesday's episode, I stated that I don't have a "Questions that must be answered" checklist for Season 6, a reader took issue with my thoughts on "Lighthouse," and our exchange is below. I thought it important to post that conversation more prominently because I think it goes to the heart of a debate I'm seeing in various online forums (and I want to thank Robin, the commenter, for contributing to the conversation; he or she had many good points and it's these kinds of civil exchanges that make it enjoyable to do this blog).

In any case, it seems that there is something of a split developing among those still watching "Lost." Of course, there have always been dozens of different "Lost" camps and fandoms, but in this final season, there seems to be a growing divide between those who say that others simply "want answers" to lingering mysteries and those who are willing to "go along for the ride."

I should note that Robin didn't say I should "go along for the ride," but others have, and it's great that they have faith in the show's creators to come up with a satisfying ending over the course of the next 13 hours. I have faith too, but I have some mild doubts and I think they're worth expressing (we're not quite at the point where I need to invoke Moff's Law, but I wonder if it will have to be invoked at some point). Those doubts might evaporate as the season progresses, or they may harden into disappointment. Unlike various characters on the ABC drama, I don't know the future.

In any case, in the "want answers" versus "just go with it" debate, I'll declare myself as having a foot in both camps. But maybe they're the same camp. Because it's not that I "want answers," though some would be nice and they can be an enjoyable part of the show (and part of the structure of "Lost" is to set up questions then give answers weeks or years later; it's part of the show's DNA).

But as I wrote about "Lighthouse," maybe it' s not about wanting answers as much as it is about wanting fewer questions.

As James Poniewozik of Time asked today on Twitter, "Serious 'Lost' question: What, now, is the objective? What, exactly, are we rooting for Jack et al to do?"

Exactly. How are we supposed to care about what the characters want if we don't know what a number of them want? Or why they want it? (As James later said on Twitter, "I'm concerned by the [amount]
of answers that Jacob-vs-Smokey is the endgame. I didn't sign on to
cheer a fight b/w magic Island deities.")

UPDATE: James wrote a post expanding on this question here; I highly recommend it. He puts his finger on a lot of the issues and reactions I've been having too. As he put it in the title of the post, "What's the Objective?"

For more on my thoughts on motivation and character and how the "answers" play into that, I thought it would be good to post this exchange between myself and a commenter from earlier today:

From Robin:

I liked the episode, including Jack's sideways world.

Jack, Kate, Locke, and Sawyer have always been the primary characters in this huge multi-character drama. It seems like a lot of dissatisfaction is coming from this fact, and that S6 is focusing so tightly on Jack and Kate (everyone loves Locke and Sawyer it seems). The show has always been about them, and even though we really really really want to see Des and Penny, and we love Miles, and we like Lapidus's wisecracks, and we want to know Richard's back story, the show has never been about those characters (Des and Penny are debatable I guess). It seems only natural that the final season would pull the story back to the main characters (while hopefully tying up some loose ends like, ahem, who the heck is Richard??), and leave the secondary characters in the background. I'm afraid that people who are not happy with the direction that the show has gone for the first 4 episodes are going to be overwhelmingly disappointed in the season as a whole, since S1 was always primarily about those 4 characters and S6 is definitely mirroring that (hey! another instance of mirrors! :-)

Secondarily, people who state "I don't need answers every show" tend to complain when Lost does what it has ALWAYS done -- bring up more questions and shroud the answers that it actually gives out. Mo, I'm not picking on you specifically. I read a lot of Lost blogs, including Ryan McGee's and Sepinwall's, and this is an increasingly common theme. Why is Lost suddenly supposed to turn into a show that doles out answers with a spoon? Would we have all wanted to watch that show for 6 years? That's not the show that Lost ever was, and I don't want it to turn into that.

Related note - the "answer" to Adam and Eve last night had me howling with laughter. I love it when Hurley gets meta. :)

Mo here:

A couple of responses:

To say that it's natural for the show to focus on Season 1 characters now doesn't quite ring true for me. "Lost" has evolved a lot since Season 1, and part of the reason it's hooked me as a viewer is that it has regularly introduced new characters that spice up the drama and the comedy and are just interesting to follow. I'd expected that we'd get some shoutouts to Season 1 and of course revisit and expand on key points of Jack and Kate's journey in the final season -- it's only fitting -- but I don't feel there's anything strange about me having shifted my loyalties over time.

At this stage, Desmond, Penny, Alpert, Ben and various other characters are as interesting or even more integral to the show as the old-school ever were, in my opinion. Speaking for myself, I am invested in a mix of old-school and new-school characters, and in some cases the stories of newer characters are far more interesting than what's going on with Season 1 characters, who've had plenty of chunks of their story told over the last six years.

As for your second point...

I don't need answers doled out with a spoon. I just don't want storytelling that is so enigmatic and equivocal that I don't know what people's motivations and goals are. If I don't really know what characters' agendas are in many cases, how can I get emotionally involved in their journeys? And that's really what I want out of "Lost" -- to feel emotionally engaged. It's not that I "want answers," it's that I don't want the focus on mysteries to detract from the heart and soul of the show, which is the people.

I don't think it's wrong to want at least some answers -- and I usually want answers, if I want them at all, to come during stories that are grounded in characters' journeys. But that's not to say that answers in themselves can't be a fun aspect of the show. I don't mind the mysteries -- they're also part of the appeal -- but at some point, the characters themselves become shrouded and vague when we don't know what they want or why they're doing certain things.

Personally, I think there's a fundamental difference between "wanting answers" and "wanting fewer enigmas added to the pile of existing questions." As I said, I think the more questions and ambivalence and mysteries there are, the harder it is to get involved in what's happening to the characters.

Your mileage may vary, of course. And I didn't hate "Lighthouse," for what it's worth. I realized when it was over that I didn't have that feeling of satisfaction and excitement I usually have after a really good episode of "Lost." Just my two cents, as always.

NBC's "Chuck" returns on Monday, and to whet your appetite for more spy adventures and Buy More antics, below is an interview I conducted on the show's set last year with two cast members, Scott Krinsky and Vik Sahay. They play the Buy More's Jeff and Lester, a.k.a. Jeffster, which is the name of their awesome band.

In this somewhat more serious third season of "Chuck," Jeff and Lester often shoulder much of the comic-relief load, but Krinsky and Sahay always pull off the Jeffster shenanigans with demented flair. I frankly can't imagine "Chuck" without Buy More antics -- and Jeffster in particular -- to balance out the more ambitious elements of the show.

Below, the actors talk about the formation of Jeffster, their musical experience prior to rocking out as Buy More's finest band and what it was like to play Comic-Con. And as you can tell in this 5-minute clip, in real life Krinsky does not possess the unhinged and/or crazy eyes of Jeff Barnes.

A few notes before we get to the Jeffster magic:

I gave some general impressions about the four episodes of "Chuck" that air starting March 1 to the fine folks at the Chuck You Tuesday podcast, which you can find here. I don't give away any spoilers, but the short version is this: I had mixed feelings about the March 1 episode, which I'll discuss at more length on this site after the episode airs. I simply adored the March 8 episode, and I thought the March 15 and March 22 episodes were generally quite strong as well. In general, my feeling is this: "People of Earth, watch 'Chuck.' And whatever questions or quibbles you may have with the show at any point (and there's a chance that I'm with you on some of that), hang on to your Buy More badges. Some cool things happen in Season 3." (By the way, I also had a conversation with the fine folks at "Chuck vs. the Podcast," which will be posted later this week. Thanks much to the hosts of both podcasts; I had a podblast.)

This is big: As of 9 p.m. Central Wednesday evening, we're starting an eBay auction of a very cool "Chuck" item for charity. It's a brand-new, unopened Wii game system accompanied by a stylish Wii bag signed by the cast of "Chuck" (Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Vik Sahay, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Joshua Gomez and Scott Krinsky). The auction for this one-of-a-kind item is part of the Watch Us Care fundraising effort for the Haitian medical charity Partners in Health and the bidding ends at 9 p.m. CST Monday, after "Chuck vs. the Fake Name" ends. (UPDATE: This auction is now live. You can bid on the Wii game system and bag here, and you can see all the items currently being auctioned here.)

Speaking of charity efforts, we have a limited amount of choice "Chuck" swag for the fast few who donate via the Watch Us Care page at Partners in Health. Nineteen "Chuck" swag bags will be available starting at noon Central Time on Wednesday, and if you're a fan of the show, you won't want to delay -- the goodies went very fast last time we gave away "Chuck" gear to charity donors. (After the that stuff is gone, look for some other cool TV-related swag on the Partners in Health page.)

Finally, the audio portion of the interview below is iffy -- I profusely apologize for that.
It's a long story but we found it hard to find a corner of the "Chuck" set in which to
do this interview, which was conducted last August. When we finally settled in the Buy More's
surround-sound room, a loud fan kicked in halfway through our chat, so you may need to crank up the volume to hear Krinsky and Sahay
(and I've also posted a partial transcript of the interview at the end
of this post in case the bad audio proves too taxing to your ears).

February 22, 2010

From left: John Park, Jermaine Sellers and Lee DeWyze try out for "American Idol" Season 9.

The three Chicago-area contestants in "American Idol's" Top 24 have a couple of things in common: They're all guys and they're all in their 20s.

However the musical styles and influences of Lee DeWyze, John Park and Jermaine Sellers couldn't be more different. In recent phone interviews, the Chicago competitors talked about what to expect from their "Idol" performances (which continue 7 p.m. Central Wednesday; the Top 12 female contestants compete 7 p.m. Central Tuesday on the Fox talent show). John Park

Age: 21Hometown: He's from Northbrook and is a junior at Northwestern University in Evanston. Influences: Stevie Wonder, Gavin DeGraw, John Legend, Jamie Cullum. "I think I would describe my sounds as new soul with a little bit of blues or R&B thrown in." What to expect: "Because I have a low voice, I kind of want to take old soul songs or blues songs and make them my own, make them modern." Musical background: He took singing lessons for two years in high school, and also performed in a high school a cappella group called Ow! He's also in an a cappella group at Northwestern called Purple Haze, which has a record coming out in the spring.

If he returns to Northwestern, will he study voice? No. He had been studying economics but is now "undecided" about his major. At Northwestern, vocal students focus on classical and operatic singing, and "I don't think I would want to do that," Park said. Psychology or communication studies are more likely options.

His competition philosophy: "Someone said, 'You don't compete with the other players, you play the course.' It's like golf." The biggest musical challenge: "The challenging thing is picking the right song. Because I didn't grow up listening to a wide variety of music, I kind of have a limited repertoire. Picking the right song and making it my own -- that's the hardest part."The biggest personal challenge: "They've blocked our social networking sites -- we have official 'Idol' ones we can update once a week. Communicating with people has been a little more difficult because Facebook and Twitter -- that was how I communicated with my friends."

The goal: "Ultimately my dream is to become a performer, a singer-songwriter." Parting words: "I'm overwhelmed at the support people have been giving me. I'm just humbled. Thank you all so much."

Jermaine Sellers

Age: 27

Hometown: Joliet

Influences: Donny Hathaway, Phyllis Hyman, Beyonce. "I want to take it back in the day -- back when we had real singers. Everything is [the computer voice-fixing program] Auto-Tune these days. There aren't any real singers any more."

Musical background: From 7 to 14, Sellers performed with Walt Whitman's Soul Children of Chicago, a choir that performs at galas and events all over the country. Whitman "taught us all discipline," Sellers said.

A lifelong motivator: Sellers' father. If he learned a song by the time his dad got home from work, he'd get $10. "I wanted that $10!" Sellers said with a laugh.

A current mentor: When it comes to performing, Sellers said Debra Bird, the vocal coach for "Idol" contestants, has given him "the best advice" he's ever gotten.

His musical philosophy: "In every song there's going to be healing for myself, but somebody out there may be dealing with the same situation and maybe can get some healing from the song. The song can't just sound good, it has to have lyrical content with a message."

Parting words: "My grandma always says, 'The sky's the limit. No cross, no crown.' To other artists in Chicago, don't give up. It's just a test. Everything comes in its season." Lee DeWyze

Musical background: DeWyze is a self-taught singer and guitarist who has played Chicago clubs such as House of Blues and Victory Liquors as well as Fitzgerald's in Berwyn.

Will he use his guitar, as he did in previous rounds? If it's appropriate for the song. "I'm definitely going to be using the guitar here and there but it is a singing competition. I don't want to overdo it."

Are there divas backstage? It doesn't sound that way. All three men said that the competition is so far free of behind-the-scenes drama. "I've become friends with most everyone here. We've all got each other's backs," DeWyze said.

The hard part: "For a lot of us, including myself, the singing is not the hard part, it's just mentally, thinking about [performing] and not getting nervous and not letting the pressure of it get to you."

His goal: "I want to be doing this for a long time, regardless of what happens here, which I hope is a lot. I want to be making music for a long time to come."

February 19, 2010

We cued up the show on Hulu, re-watched it and talked about our thoughts about the Feb. 16 episode, "The Substitute." The whole thing was a great deal of fun and I hope you enjoy it. (Ryan and I hope to line up other special guests for these weekly "Orientation: Ryan Station" podcasts. Our previous podcasts and my other "Lost" stories can be found here.)

The 49-minute "Orientation: Ryan Station Part 3 -- The Sepining" is below. You can listen to it on this site or you can right click and do "Save Link As" to save it to your hard drive and listen to it later via iTunes. (If you want to listen and watch the show as well, I recommend doing so at Ryan's "Lost" site.)

Also, "Lost" fans really should check out the new items in this raffle of rare "Lost" merchandise, which now includes mint-condition Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk comics signed by "Lost" executive producer Damon Lindelof.

What to do if you're not in the mood to watch the Olympics? Below are a few programs you may want to check out if you aren't obsessed by the doings in Vancouver.

Actually, regardless of the Olympics, these are just a few overlooked gems (and one revitalized veteran) you may find entertaining:

1. "Life Unexpected," 8 p.m. Central Monday (reruns 7 p.m. Central Wednesday), CW: This freshman drama is doing all right by the CW's standards but it still needs (and certainly deserves) an assist. The premise has teenager Lux reuniting with her birth parents, who gave her up for adoption in high school. Ignore the fact that Lux (Brittany Robertson) is so adorable you can't believe no one ever adopted her and instead, focus on the fact that, like the best WB dramas of the yore, this winning family drama has a very talented cast, a good deal of wit and a great deal of heart. If you've missed "Gilmore Girls" and "Everwood," this promising show could well fill that gap in your life. In Monday's episode (which is not a repeat), Lux's father, Baze (Kristoffer Polaha), is a guest on the radio show hosted by Lux's mother, Cate (Shiri Appleby) and her fiance, Ryan (Kerr Smith).

2. "Archer," 9 p.m. Central Thursday, FX: Four episodes of this animated spy comedy air Thursday -- it's a great way to get acquainted with "Archer," which could be described as the polar opposite of "Life Unexpected." The mother and son at the center of "Archer," Malory and Sterling Archer (the wonderfully deadpan Jessica Walter and H. Jon Benjamin, respectively), are constantly sniping at each other as they carry out spy missions for an espionage agency called ISIS. That's one of the central jokes of this wonderfully twisted show -- the Archers and the other ISIS employees are far more interested in office politics, one-upsmanship, drinking and sex than they are in being good secret agents. Though not every joke hits home, at its best, "Archer" combines the demented inventiveness of "Arrested Development" with the goofball workplace comedy of "The Office." 3. "RuPaul's Drag Race," 8 p.m. Central Mondays, Logo: I can't think of anything more fun than spending an hour in the presence of RuPaul, who radiates delightfulness and diva charisma as the host of this drag-queen competition. In its second season, this show's microscopic budget appears to have gotten a boost, but as the competitors demonstrate week after week, money doesn't really matter as much as inventiveness, attitude and style. Add guest judges such as Kathy Griffin, Cloris Leachman, Debbie Reynolds, Tatum O'Neal, Jackie Collins, Henry Rollins, Kathy Najimy and Terri Nunn to the proceedings, and you have all the makings of delicious drag drama.

4. "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," 9 p.m. Central Fridays, Starz: When I tell people who've seen the "Spartacus" pilot that I'm enjoying this Starz gladiator drama, they look at me as if I might be insane. But I contend that people who bailed after the pilot are missing out on a pretty enjoyable swords-and-sandals melodrama, one that is not nearly as derivative and clunky as the show's first couple of episodes. Yes, it's violent, sex-drenched and looks a lot like a budget version of "300," but "Spartacus" is also a sexy, canny soap about the travails of Batiatus (the wonderful John Hannah), the desperate but cunning owner of the gladiator school, and his scheming wife, Lucretia (the always enjoyable Lucy Lawless).

It may all be an escapist romp about naughty Romans and fierce warriors, but it's an increasingly well-written and assured romp. My favorite character may actually be the fearsome Doctore (Peter Mensah), the head instructor of the gladiator school, but star Andy Whitfield is doing a credible job as the title character, who has a quiet nobility, not just rippling abs.

5. "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains," 7 p.m. Central Thursdays, CBS: It was smart of CBS to schedule a new season of "Survivor" against the Olympics -- and an all-star season at that. I used to be addicted to this reality warhorse but grew tired of it after a dozen seasons; all the scheming started to feel rote and predictable. But this outing, which collects some of the best players from the show's past 19 seasons, is all about pure game play and strategy, and the personalities and machinations are interesting enough to keep me watching -- for now, anyway. We'll sees if "Heroes vs. Villains" keeps me glued to the set when Thursdays are crowded again with fresh episodes of scripted comedies and dramas.

A note: Check the video player at the right side of this page for clips from these and other programs; new clips are added daily.

Finally, I asked readers for their suggestions for overlooked gems that people should be watching, and here were their nominees (and feel free to leave more suggestions in the comment area):

"The Venture Brothers" (I've just begun watching this animated show and find it entertainingly twisted. Having just watched all of the episode of the animated "Tick" with my son, "Venture Brothers" is filling my need for eclectically weird and intelligently funny animated humor.)

"Caprica" (I'm cautiously optimistic about this show and will have more to say about it next week; my original review is here.)

"The Inbetweeners" (A BBC America show that I never got around to checking out, sorry.)

"Greek" (This is a show I usually enjoy when I check it out, but for whatever reason, I haven't been consistent about watching it.)

"Human Target" (This action-adventure show has a good cast but it's a little samey for me week to week. I haven't checked the show out lately, perhaps it has improved.)

"Southland" (Soon I'm going to watch the Season 2 episodes that will begin airing on TNT in March. In its first season, I found this cop drama worthy but a bit stodgy and overly earnest.)

"The Vampire Diaries" (It's not really my cup of tea, but Ian Somerhalder's having a high old time hamming his way through this teen vampire soap.)

"Men of a Certain Age" (I've watched and enjoyed this show from time to time but it's not must-see TV for me -- my original review is here. Still, many readers seem to absolutely love it, and the cast -- Ray Romano, Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher -- is undeniably great.)

February 17, 2010

It was mostly good news on Wednesday on "American Idol" -- the hourlong broadcast was a whirlwind of yeses, as much of the Fox talent show's Top 24 was assembled.

Seven finalists (including Mount Prospect's Lee Dewyze, pictured at left) had been picked during Tuesday's two-hour broadcast, but on Wednesday, "American Idol" had only one hour to usher in the next 17 finalists. Singers who got "yeses" during their final interview with the four judges included Northbrook's John Park and Joliet's Jermaine Sellers, but another frequent "Idol" contestant, Chicago's Angela Martin, did not make it through. Martin had a heartbreaking tale of personal losses and the judges were clearly pained to have to send her home -- Kara DioGuardi sat with her and comforted her as she took in the fact that she didn't make the cut.

Tuesday marks the show's first live sing-off, when the Top 12 women will compete at 7 p.m. Central. The men compete for two hours on Wednesday, and on Thursday, Feb. 25, the first four contestants will be sent home.

A disgruntled commenter the other day said something along the lines of "Does Mo only write about 'Supernatural' and 'Lost' anymore"? Hey, Mr. Cranky, don't forget "Chuck"!

I kid. But I also want to let you know that I realize reviews and blog posts have been somewhat lighter than usual. Sorry about that but I've been dipping my toe into podcasting, working on the Watch Us Carecharity endeavor, and I also took a few days off recently.

Also, aside from the Olympics, which my colleagues in Sports are covering ably, there aren't a ton of big TV events happening in February (many shows are airing reruns for the next week or two to get out of the Olympics' way).

But fear not: A change is gonna come. For one thing, most scripted shows should be out of reruns in a few weeks.

Also, I've got a story in the works about "The Best Shows You're Not Watching," a tribute to overlooked gems and at least one recently re-found favorite (it should be up by the end of the week). So far the contenders for that list include "RuPaul's Drag Race," "Archer," "Spartacus," "Life Unexpected" and "Survivor" (I've recently begun watching the "Heroes Vs. Villains" season). It's been a while since I watched that reality warhorse regularly, but the long break means I'm once again inclined to give the Machiavellian maneuvers on the beach a chance.

If you have more "Best Show People Aren't Watching or Should Be Watching" nominees, leave them in comments.

Speaking of what's coming, March is looking pretty snazzy, am I right?

"Parenthood" debuts on March 2 on NBC. I'll review that around then but I'll likely be giving the show three stars out of four.

"The Pacific," a World War 2 miniseries from the team behind "Band of Brothers," arrives on HBO March 14. I've been watching "Band" for the first time to prep for the "Pacific," and "Band" is as good as everyone has always told me.

"Justified," a new series starring Timothy Olyphant, arrives on FX March 16. There are quite a few clips from the show in the video player on the right side of this page.

"Breaking Bad" isn't all that and a bag of chips to me but I know many of you love it -- so you'll be happy to know that it returns on AMC March 21. Dig the new poster of Walt and Jesse at right above.

"Nurse Jackie" and "United States of Tara" return to Showtime March 22.

And finally, my nerd brain can't wait until "V" returns to ABC March 30. Yes, I know the show had its share of flaws, but I hope those will have been addressed when the alien-invasion drama comes back, and no matter what, I know Morena Baccarin will continue to wow this planet as the amazingly cool alien leader Anna.

Speaking of nerd alerts, new episodes of "Doctor Who" arrive in the "spring" -- that's all the maddening BBC America press releases say regarding a time frame (damn their British reserve!). But there's a new image of new Doctor Matt Smith and his companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) at right.

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